Ohio State revokes Bill Cosby’s honorary degree amid retrial

April 7, 2018

FILE - In this June 8, 2001 file photo, Bill Cosby speaks to the 2001 graduating class during Ohio State University's Spring Commencement in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State University has revoked an honorary degree awarded to Cosby when he spoke at commencement in 2001. University trustees on Friday, April 6, 2018, approved rescinding the degree for the 80-year-old comedian, whose retrial in a sexual assault case begins Monday with opening statements in suburban Philadelphia.(AP Photo/Jay LaPrete, File)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State University has revoked an honorary degree awarded to Bill Cosby when he spoke at commencement in 2001.

University trustees on Friday approved rescinding the degree for the 80-year-old comedian, whose retrial in a sexual assault case begins Monday with opening statements in suburban Philadelphia.

An Ohio State spokesman says Cosby has, by his own admission, violated the university’s principles and values.

This is the first time Ohio State has revoked an honorary degree. It adds to the list of schools that have revoked honorary degrees for the comedian in the past few years.

Cosby’s retrial involves a woman who says he drugged and assaulted her in 2004. Cosby says the encounter was consensual.